This is the first of two books that covers Spartacus’ life from when he left the Roman army to his death. The first book follows his life as his is traded as a slave in his home village, through to his escape from the Ludus (House of Batiatus) and onto commanding a huge slave Army.

Most of us are aware of the story of Spartacus, mainly thanks to the TV series and this book looks at his life from the same angle, but without all the sex scenes. Many will be aware of the names in the book, as they were actually real people that are also used within the TV series. However unlike the TV series, the author doesn’t rely on blood and gore to get the reader to understand the horror of the situation.
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Ian Fleming famously created the character of James Bond, 007 in 1953 with him as a WW2 veteran in the rank of Commander in the Royal Navy. The 007 prefix meant he was ‘Licensed to Kill’.

Jeffrey Deaver has taken Bond and moved him into the modern era. This character is born in 1979, a veteran of Afghanistan, still a Commander, though in the Royal Naval Reserve. The new Bond works for a new organisation called the Overseas Development Group, which was brought into existence following 9/11 and sits somewhere between MI5 and MI6. The mission of ODG is “To protect the Realm – by any means necessary!”. So the time zone and organisation have changed from the original character but many traits remain; Bond’s love of good living, beautiful women and Bentley cars are all present in abundance! Some things are also still in place; the boss is still a crusty old Admiral known as ‘M’, Miss Monypenny is still M’s secretary and Q Branch still comes up with new ‘toys’. However, Bond has his own PA now, who just happens to be uber efficient, blonde, beautiful and very protective of Bond.
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